Fighters whose careers ended too early

[handsofstone]

I would liked to have seen Vitali Klitschko have a few more fights after the Lennox Lewis fight.

What,he had 14 more fights

Sorry got that one completely the wrong way round - my mistake

[ALI]

Was gonna say naz but someone already said it. Chico and edwin valero are two others that spring to my mind also paul williams

Good shout on those 3, it springs to mind the likes of Watson and McClellan.

[geronimo]

Tszyu, Calzaghe.

[Monte Fisto]

Hamed for me, but also Gary mason was unfortunate with that eye injury. He was fun to watch and a good guy to cheer on.

[josco]

Tommy Bache - a brilliant Liverpool bantamweight from the golden years of the old Stadium. Seemed destined for high honours but packed it in early. I have often wondered why and quite a few of my old mates did too..

[Onetimeonly]

Wesley mouzon is my biggest what if. He could have been a legend.

[oogiebe]

Baby Joe Mesi. Had hard fought win over Jirov and never was quite the same. Last fight at age 24. 36-0 (29)

[Boxingcutsman]

One that particularly sticks in my mind is one I actually watched live, was in america it was a talented Lightweight fighter about 12/13 yrs ago called Leavander Johnson, I remeber feeling sickened at the time at the way he was defenceless on the ropes and his head being rolled around terribly and the ref was appalling and too slow tbh, he sadly collapsed in the dressing room shortly after and died after a couple days fighting, but there’s so many, the list could go in sadly all day

Pirog
Diego Corrales
Paul Williams
Darren Sutherland
Gerald McClellan
Michael Watson
Edwin Valero
Johnny Owen
Marco Antonio Narzareth
And my favourite fighter the thunder Arturo Gatti

[Onetimeonly]

I'd say gattis career should have ended earlier. Who is narzareth?

[bennie]

Vernon Sollas won the British featherweight title in spectacular fashion at the age of 20 but then lost his way and was all finished at 22.

[NoScoutingReports]

Mentioned earlier obviously but the injury to Dmitry Pirog was a real shame, would have loved to see him in the mix at 160 for a good period beyond 2012.

[MasterG]

Welsh kid Robbie Regan.

tough kid was Robbie beat Daniel Jimenez for the WBO bantamweight title back in 1996. He contract glandular fever and never defended his title. Then tried to make a comeback but failed a medical.

Robbie suffered some personal issues and spent a little time in prison.

Always a joy to watch him box and had a trio of excellent battles with Francis Ampofo.

Had a record of 17 - 2 - 3

[Boxingcutsman]

I'd say gattis career should have ended earlier. Who is narzareth?

Gatti life I meant, ill always throw him into everything as I’m a massive fan lol, Nazareth was a young Mexican kid who died a couple years ago in a fight with Jesus Chavez I think it was, apparently weight making issues played a massive part in his injuries that lead to him dying, a good friend of mine as spent many years living and training in Mexico and fighting under Nacho Berenstien at the Romanza gym sparring and training alongside the likes of Jorge Arce, Jhonny Gonzalez, Juan manuel Marquez and many other great fighters, lots of footage of him sparring them and training etc and he said the way they make weight in Mexico is so so dangerous and appalling and there are loads of injuries and deaths we don’t even hear off but yet still nothing is done about it, he reckons it’s the toughest conditions and approach hence the fans favourite Mexican style of fighting but even in sparring if you get knocked out or badly hurt you get up and carry on once you can heft to your feet, if your cut they just deal with it as if it was a real fight and you carry on, I understand the thought behind it but it’s training and preparation for the real thing, the less punishment and miles you put on the clock imo is better for your health and career, I know lads here and in America who make weight so dangerously it’s a wide spread common thing believe it or not, behind close doors it’s unfortunately become part and parcel with the hope that nothing serious will happen to you, I think more needs to be done and the BBBoC check weighs don’t count for shit and can be easily got around, it needs to be more stringent and can be imo. A coupe recent prime examples are the very sad deaths of Mike Towell and not 100% sure weight played any part but the sad death of Scott Westgarth plus the injuries to the likes of Nick Blackwell, and a good friend of mine JonJo Finnegan etc all highlight it

[Onetimeonly]

No doubt the weight cutting is crazy, even worse in mma.

[Counter-puncher]

No doubt the weight cutting is crazy, even worse in mma.

Less brain trauma in MMA compared to boxing makes me wonder if the in-ring effects of draining are worse for boxers.

[oogiebe]

Salvador Sanchez, one of my all time favorites.

[gilgamesh]

There was quality South African fighter in the 80's I think his name was Brian Mitchell? Whose career was cut short due to apartheid I think.

Laszlo Papp's opportunities were limited due to the conditions of his country's government as well.

[hitman_hatton1]

andre ward

yuri romanov - only 3 fights after the thaxton win was rather disappointing.

steve collins

shea neary

[Coco]

Salvador Sanchez, one of my all time favorites.

X2

[spudder56]

I'd say gattis career should have ended earlier. Who is narzareth?

Gatti life I meant, ill always throw him into everything as I’m a massive fan lol, Nazareth was a young Mexican kid who died a couple years ago in a fight with Jesus Chavez I think it was, apparently weight making issues played a massive part in his injuries that lead to him dying, a good friend of mine as spent many years living and training in Mexico and fighting under Nacho Berenstien at the Romanza gym sparring and training alongside the likes of Jorge Arce, Jhonny Gonzalez, Juan manuel Marquez and many other great fighters, lots of footage of him sparring them and training etc and he said the way they make weight in Mexico is so so dangerous and appalling and there are loads of injuries and deaths we don’t even hear off but yet still nothing is done about it, he reckons it’s the toughest conditions and approach hence the fans favourite Mexican style of fighting but even in sparring if you get knocked out or badly hurt you get up and carry on once you can heft to your feet, if your cut they just deal with it as if it was a real fight and you carry on, I understand the thought behind it but it’s training and preparation for the real thing, the less punishment and miles you put on the clock imo is better for your health and career, I know lads here and in America who make weight so dangerously it’s a wide spread common thing believe it or not, behind close doors it’s unfortunately become part and parcel with the hope that nothing serious will happen to you, I think more needs to be done and the BBBoC check weighs don’t count for poo and can be easily got around, it needs to be more stringent and can be imo. A coupe recent prime examples are the very sad deaths of Mike Towell and not 100% sure weight played any part but the sad death of Scott Westgarth plus the injuries to the likes of Nick Blackwell, and a good friend of mine JonJo Finnegan etc all highlight it

How would you change the bbbofc check weigh procedures then ?

[bigjack]

There was quality South African fighter in the 80's I think his name was Brian Mitchell? Whose career was cut short due to apartheid I think.

Laszlo Papp's opportunities were limited due to the conditions of his country's government as well.

He had a 14 year and 45 wins career,not sure that was cut short

[gilgamesh]

There was quality South African fighter in the 80's I think his name was Brian Mitchell? Whose career was cut short due to apartheid I think.

Laszlo Papp's opportunities were limited due to the conditions of his country's government as well.

He had a 14 year and 45 wins career,not sure that was cut short

Didn't he want to continue still though?

[bigjack]

There was quality South African fighter in the 80's I think his name was Brian Mitchell? Whose career was cut short due to apartheid I think.

Laszlo Papp's opportunities were limited due to the conditions of his country's government as well.

He had a 14 year and 45 wins career,not sure that was cut short

Didn't he want to continue still though?

I know he was forced to travel a lot to defend his WBA title,not sure if he was forced to retire or not,great fighter though.

[spudder56]

He had a 14 year and 45 wins career,not sure that was cut short

Didn't he want to continue still though?

I know he was forced to travel a lot to defend his WBA title,not sure if he was forced to retire or not,great fighter though.

Yeah I remember him well had to go on the road coz of apartheid etc in fact he was nicknamed the road warrior he was a truly great fighter

[Boxingcutsman]

I'd say gattis career should have ended earlier. Who is narzareth?

Gatti life I meant, ill always throw him into everything as I’m a massive fan lol, Nazareth was a young Mexican kid who died a couple years ago in a fight with Jesus Chavez I think it was, apparently weight making issues played a massive part in his injuries that lead to him dying, a good friend of mine as spent many years living and training in Mexico and fighting under Nacho Berenstien at the Romanza gym sparring and training alongside the likes of Jorge Arce, Jhonny Gonzalez, Juan manuel Marquez and many other great fighters, lots of footage of him sparring them and training etc and he said the way they make weight in Mexico is so so dangerous and appalling and there are loads of injuries and deaths we don’t even hear off but yet still nothing is done about it, he reckons it’s the toughest conditions and approach hence the fans favourite Mexican style of fighting but even in sparring if you get knocked out or badly hurt you get up and carry on once you can heft to your feet, if your cut they just deal with it as if it was a real fight and you carry on, I understand the thought behind it but it’s training and preparation for the real thing, the less punishment and miles you put on the clock imo is better for your health and career, I know lads here and in America who make weight so dangerously it’s a wide spread common thing believe it or not, behind close doors it’s unfortunately become part and parcel with the hope that nothing serious will happen to you, I think more needs to be done and the BBBoC check weighs don’t count for poo and can be easily got around, it needs to be more stringent and can be imo. A coupe recent prime examples are the very sad deaths of Mike Towell and not 100% sure weight played any part but the sad death of Scott Westgarth plus the injuries to the likes of Nick Blackwell, and a good friend of mine JonJo Finnegan etc all highlight it

How would you change the bbbofc check weigh procedures then ?

Plenty of ways, the weight making more comes into it when it’s title fights and is the time when the weight draining becomes more drastic, as you have a target to make, the lads know when the check weigh in is happening has it’s usually arranged by your local area secretary phoning to make the arrangements with the trainer a week or couple weeks before to give plenty of time for you to drop the weight rapidly as required to meet the % guidelines the board are happy with, but it isn’t strict enough or monitored enough, in fact it’s a joke, the lads then drain themselves to make that weight then instantly go back up in weight knowing that they’ve got until a couple days before the fight now before the next one, I’ve seen and know lads who have made check weight and then the next day be 1st over that weight again, and within a couple days be 20+ pounds over, some of the American and Mexicans use intravenous rehydration via a saline drip, one who was known was Chavez junior who would rehydrate at least 20lbs over night, so one way for me is being that once a fight is announced the fighters weight is taken to see if it’s medically safe for them to be able to take the excess weight off during the length of camp, mathematics coming into it, then once a week their weight taken throughout camp leading upto fight to make sure it’s safely coming down by a safe amount, lads and trainers keep the lads weight high throughout camp especially for during there sparring to try and limit any risk of injury from weight loss and
Any fluid decrease which sets alarm bells ringing that they are well aware of the risks, which asks the question why do they think it’s acceptable to lose a stone if not a couple stones 7-10 days before a 12 round, hard fight ?
the risk of brain injury is massively increased the longer a fight goes on, the heat under the lights, the impact of taking numerous head shots throughout the length of a fight, the dehydration naturally and exhaustion from the fight all massively increased if you’ve crashed weight and are dehydrated going into the fight, and has we’ve seen unfortunately too many times the sad consequences of it.